Assistant manager Kenny Black felt his side had done enough to see the win out against Lincoln City, but accepts the club’s Checkatrade Trophy fate is still in their own hands.
Ryan Colclough gave Scunthorpe the lead just after half-time but the Imps levelled late on through Harry Anderson to make it 1-1 before winning 3-1 on penalties.
The result leaves the Iron second in Group H but, if they win at Mansfield Town on November 13th, they will secure their passage to the next round alongside the Stags, who are top at present and already through.
Black told iFollow Iron: “We were disappointed to lose on penalties after taking the lead. We thought we’d done enough not just to see the game out, but we had chances afterwards to extend our lead. It was quite an open game in the second half, and we failed to take a couple of opportunities to make the game safe.
“It’s up to us now, if we win at Mansfield we progress, and we want to progress as far as we can in this competition.
“We’re not downbeat, there were some positives. We now need to move on and look forward to a big game on Saturday against Peterborough (in League One).”
United made seven changes to the side that played at Luton last weekend, giving important game time to some of the players who haven’t been involved in the first team as much lately.
He continued: “There was obviously a little bit of rustiness because some of the guys haven’t featured much, but while some of the lads really stood out, we felt there were too many chances created against us and that’s a concern.
“However, it was good to see these guys on the pitch and they’ll benefit greatly from that. You find out a lot more about them in competitive fixtures like tonight than you do in training. It was great for us to see what they can bring to the table.”
The assistant boss added there were no fresh injury worries from the game, although Clayton Lewis came off due to tiredness.
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